Ellen Baker

Ellen Baker is the author of the novel THE HIDDEN LIFE OF CECILY LARSON (Mariner), which was the HarperCollins Lead Read for Winter 2024 and is a March 2024 IndieNext pick. The book was recently featured in People magazine as a Best New Book, where it was described as "a sweeping tale of love and loss." It was also featured in Woman's World magazine as a Best New Book, named as one of winter's most anticipated books by Goodreads, and placed on multiple Best-of lists by BookBub, including Best Historical Fiction of 2024. Authors including Lisa Wingate, Tara Conklin, Kim Michele Richardson, Thao Thai and Kristin Harmel have praised it respectively as “colorful,” “gorgeous,” “electrifying,” “riveting” and “beautiful.”

Ellen’s earlier novels, KEEPING THE HOUSE and I GAVE MY HEART TO KNOW THIS (Random House), were called “masterful” (Booklist), “sensitive” (Publisher’s Weekly), “vivid” (Chicago Tribune), and “artful” (Philadelphia Inquirer). KEEPING THE HOUSE won the Great Lakes Book Award and was a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year, as well as an Insider Discovery of the Literary Guild, a featured selection of the Doubleday Book Club and Random House Reader’s Circle, a BookSense Notable Book, and a Midwest Connections Pick.

After living most of her early life in Minnesota and Wisconsin, Ellen fell in love with Maine on a 2010 visit and stayed. A former independent bookseller and museum curator, she loves to teach the craft and magic of fiction writing. Her online course, START YOUR NOVEL WITH CONFIDENCE, offering an 8-key-decision framework for getting your novel off the ground (and creating a realistic plan to finish it), plus a year of group coaching to support you as you write it, is available at www.ellenbakerstudio.com.